Ohio State University-Main Campus · PsychologyBaldwin SocialLab
Baldwin M Way · Columbus, Ohio
Research Focus
Dr. Baldwin M Way's lab at Ohio State University investigates the relationship between passive social media use and mental health in adolescents. The lab focuses on understanding how observing others on social media, without direct interaction, affects young people's emotional wellbeing, particularly in varying stressful environments. By combining surveys and physiological measurements, the lab aims to uncover the biological processes linking social media habits and mental health outcomes.
social mediamental healthadolescentsstressbiological pathways
Research Aims
3AIM 01Examine how passive social media use affects mental health in adolescents.
AIM 02Identify the relationship between stress exposure and passive social media use.
AIM 03Investigate how individual differences, such as gender and race, influence the effects of passive social media use on mental health.
Skills the Lab Values
ecological momentary assessmentGPS trackingheart-rate variability measurementgene expression analysislongitudinal study design
Output against the department
Publications109bottom 31% of dept.203rd of 296
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations7.3ktop 43% of dept.128th of 296
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.